Various types of athletic equipment such as rackets, clubs, bats, handle bars, and the like all require gripping by the user of the equipment. For example, a golf club includes a head, shaft, and grip. The grip serves as the interface between the golfer's muscles and the golf club. Most grips are tacky to allow the golfer to hold the club more securely, thus increasing the accuracy of a hit ball's flight and the precision of its trajectory. The grip must not be slippery if the club is to perform the intended role of propelling the ball.
As golfers swing, the golf club grips become dirty and greasy, and they lose their tackiness over time. They also age and harden, so replacement of grips becomes necessary on a periodic basis. Since the ability of the grips to provide adequate performance can be extended to longer time intervals by regular cleaning, various cleaning implements for these athletic equipment grips have previously been used.
However, in the past it has been difficult to clean these grips because cleaning with water and soaps tends to remove the tackiness of the grip, leaving the grip slick and undesirable, as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,510. One previous solution to this problem was to wipe the grip with a towel to clean the grip. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,532 discloses a sportsman towel which is employed to clean sports equipment. However, merely wiping the grip with a towel often does not effectively clean the grip and may even work grime and dirt into the grip, thereby aggravating the condition.
Accordingly, numerous devices have been proposed in the prior art for cleaning the grips of athletic equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No 4,554,696 describes electrically-driven brushes that scrub the grip of an athletic equipment clean. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,676,839 and 4,750,230 describe electrically powered automated golf grip cleaners. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,233 discloses a disposable club head wiping patch that is fastened to a golfer's trousers; U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,892 describes a machine that uses brushes to clean golf club grips; U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,806 describes a fluid-filled device in which the insertion of a golf club activates a pump that floods the grip with cleaning fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,277 describes a vertical pipe filled with a cleaning solution fabricated with internal bristles that can be used to clean a golf club grip; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,874 describes a device for roughening a worn or smooth grip to restore the initial texture and “feel” thus lengthening the time interval between grip replacement. However, all of these disclosed prior art devices have the drawback that they are bulky, do not clean golf club grips very well, and are not very portable, making them difficult to transport, use, and operate on the golf course.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,510 discloses various chemicals including anhydrous sodium metasilicate, sodium tripolyphosphate, ether, sodium xylene sulfate, caustic soda, surfactants, and water combined in a 30-gallon container into which the golf grip would be inserted and manipulated. However, the same difficulties as noted above apply to this proposed solution as well.
Numerous cleaning compositions have previously been described for a plethora of objects and materials including glass, bricks, floors, clothing, and painted surfaces. In theory, these cleaning compositions can be used to clean a golf grip. For example, it has previously been proposed to use a multistep process that employed a soap, detergent, or abrasive to clean a grip, followed by a rinse step, further followed by drying with an absorbent towel. However, such a method is time consuming and the elapsed time before a club can be used is often several hours. Accordingly, these methods cannot be performed during the course of playing golf since golfers are required (USGA Rule 6–7) to play without undue delay. In competition, a committee sets pace of play guidelines including maximum periods of time allowed to complete a stipulated round, a hole or a stroke. Since the time to complete a stroke is invariably less than the time allotted to look for a lost ball, defined as 5 minutes by Rule 27, a multistep method that involves drying the grip cannot be employed if the intent is to clean the grips during play.
One proposed solution to these problems is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,612, which describes transferring a sticky, adhesive material from a carrier such as a towel to an athletic grip. The grip will retain some of the sticky adhesive material to increase tackiness and the bond between the hand and the athletic grip. However, this patent only discloses adding an adhesive material to a grip, and does not disclose cleaning a grip by removing dirt and grime, for example. Further, the solution proposed by this patent has not yet proven to be effective.
Accordingly, there is a need for an effective, easy, portable athletic equipment grip cleaner, particularly a golf club grip cleaner. The present subject matter addresses this need.